From Palms to Pines and Oaks

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
After arriving back to the good old USA, we have traveled north to the Treasure Coast, through the Palm Coast to the Space Coast and beyond. When we arrived in St. Augustine, one of our favorite places, we decided to just sit aboard and enjoy the ambience of the harbor. We already did the tourist thing so many times we know most of the spiel of the tram operators. This was the first time just to enjoy the city from the best perspective, the north mooring field. Yesterday was time to move on toward the next favorite spot, Fernandina Beach, a very historic port, and paper mill town. The latter lends little to the ambience if the wind is from the wrong direction. Paper mill aroma is not up there with roses.
We departed ahead of Caribbean Soul, another Texas boat that later had to return to St. Augustine due to fuel leaks. We decided to “do the ditch” since the winds were, as usual, light and on the nose. This part of the AICW is beautiful as it starts to transcend the tropical zone of lower Florida to the ancient oaks of the Southeast Us. Although there are abundant Palm trees north of St. Augustine, one starts to see fewer of them. As we crossed the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, the tides favored a quick run north through the vast marsh lands that characterize the start of the Low Country of Georgia and the Carolinas. These marsh lands are crossed by tidal bayous that make fishing one of the favorite past times. Since the grass in the marshes seems to be manicured to a uniform height just below the line of sight from our cockpit, one can see folk’s way back in the marsh from the waste up. It looks funny to see people in the middle of a thousand acre marsh with no visible boat below them. The tides are sufficient here to drain those backwaters so we are thinking more than a few fishing dudes had to cool it a few hours after having been caught with no water under their boats. Out there are many challenges not the least of which is the dreaded horse fly. Those guys are fast, smart and mean. They perch under the bimini waiting for the right time to get you at the knees or below. They favor my ankles. Once bitten, the itch continues for hours. We’ll take mosquitoes any time over the horse fly. Fortunately, it is still cool enough that they do not dominate the day.
So, as we made it yesterday to the northernmost harbor in Florida, we were favored late in the day with a very nice, cool Atlantic breeze. It was wonderful and of such strength as to keep the bugs suppressed. We wondered if the breeze direction would keep the paper mill stench away from the harbor. It did. We tied off at Fernandina Beach Marina at 1610. We have stopped here three times. The first time was in July 2010 and it was not only hot and humid but also windless. The next time was December of 2010 when it was colder than Ben Laden’s heart. This time, it is just right. From here, one can see the Kings Bay Naval Station, home port to some Boomers of the US Navy. When we leave this place, we will visit again use the AICW so that hopefully, Bear can see what she missed last time. Meanwhile, we will see if we can see that elusive otter that lives here--- or not

Picture is of a schooner passing the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine